Vladimir Putin has instructed his Safety Council to debate extra “anti-terrorism measures” after a string of embarrassing assaults inside Russian territory, together with an unprecedented raid throughout the Ukrainian border claimed by volunteer fighters.
Mr Putin stated Russia had been hit by a “terrorist attack” within the southern Bryansk area on the border with Ukraine, and vowed to crush a sabotage group that Russia’s FSB intelligence company claimed had fired at civilians.
Ukraine accused Russia of staging a false “provocation,” whereas a fringe group of Russian volunteers combating alongside Kyiv’s forces claimed duty for the brazen raid on two villages.
The Russian President’s feedback got here as his forces seemed to be on the point of a uncommon victory in Bakhmut, with the chief of the Wagner mercenary group claiming his fighters had “virtually encircled” the Ukrainian metropolis.
03:00 PM
Right this moment’s prime tales
That is all for as we speak, listed below are the highest tales:
Russian troops look like on the point of a uncommon victory in Bakhmut, amid reviews of a Ukrainian withdrawal
I spied on the Russians – with slightly assist from a ‘Negroni’
Russian MP summoned to court for ‘discrediting the army’ over noodle stunt
Putin tells Russian safety council to tighten ‘anti-terror’ measures
Russia should be punished for Ukraine struggle, says Antony Blinken
02:36 PM
I spied on the Russians – with slightly assist from a ‘Negroni’
For the Russian troopers occupying the Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson, Anastasia Burlak’s cafe-bar was a well-liked place for R&R. The pizza was tasty, the booze flowed, and their hostess – a smiley, tattooed 30-year previous – was at all times welcoming.
But, as they downed Scotch by the bottle, and tried to flirt with Anastasia and her waitresses, the closely armed clients relaxed slightly an excessive amount of for their very own good. None realised that when her eye often lingered on their uniforms, it wasn’t out of admiration for the lads carrying them.
For as she plied them with drink, Anastasia was spying on her patrons for Kherson’s pro-Ukrainian partisans.
Learn the total story here
02:18 PM
Russian noodle stunt MP summoned to court docket for ‘discrediting the military’
A Russian MP who wore noodles on his ears whereas watching a Vladimir Putin speech has been summoned to court docket.
Mikhail Abdalkin, a beforehand little-known MP in Samara in southern Russia, final week shared a video of himself remotely watching Putin’s state of the nation address with noodles hanging over his ears in a transparent mockery of the Russian chief.
“To hold noodles on somebody’s ears” is a well known idiom in Russia which means “to inform lies” or “pull somebody’s leg”.
01:44 PM
Wagner chief tells Zelensky to desert ‘encircled’ Bakhmut
The chief of the Wagner group has referred to as on Volodymr Zelensky to desert Bakhmut as he claimed his fighters had “virtually encircled” the Ukrainian metropolis.
Yevgeny Prigozhin stated: “The Wagner paramilitary group models have virtually surrounded Bakhmut, just one highway stays” to go away town.”
“If earlier we had been combating in opposition to the skilled military, we now more and more see previous individuals and youngsters,” Prigozhin stated within the video filmed from a constructing’s rooftop.
“They’re combating, however their life expectancy in Bakhmut is now very brief, sooner or later or two… give them an opportunity to go away town,” he stated.
The video then confirmed an previous man and two youthful males who requested Zelensky to allow them to depart.
01:42 PM
Zelenska: Eternally with Ukraine
01:21 PM
EU’s Borrell sees ‘small enchancment’ at G20 with Russia
Josep Borrell, the EU overseas coverage chief, stated Friday he noticed a “small enchancment” in diplomacy with Moscow at a Group of 20 assembly that noticed uncommon US-Russia talks.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, met briefly Thursday with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian International Minister, in New Delhi, and pressed him over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Borrell famous that Mr Lavrov remained within the room when Western nations criticised Russia, not like on the G20 overseas ministers’ assembly in Bali final yr, when he stormed out.
“At the least this time he stayed and he listened. It is a small enchancment nevertheless it’s vital,” Borrell stated on the Raisina Dialogue, a discussion board in New Delhi.
“I feel it is higher than nothing.”
Borrell stated he would oppose any effort besides Russia from the G20, meant to signify the world’s main economies, in step with Russia’s eviction a decade in the past from the Group of Seven – then the Group of Eight – main industrial democracies.
“We’ve got to maintain methods of speaking, or at the very least listening if not speaking,” Borrell stated.
01:17 PM
Putin tells Russian safety council to tighten ‘anti-terror’ measures
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday instructed his Safety Council that they wanted to debate extra “anti-terrorism measures” to safeguard amenities managed by regulation enforcement our bodies.
Putin stated on Thursday Russia had been hit by a “terrorist attack” within the southern Bryansk area bordering Ukraine, and vowed to crush a sabotage group that had fired at civilians. Ukraine accused Russia of staging a false “provocation”.
12:13 PM
Pictured: Zelensky poses for an image with an injured Ukrainian serviceman as he visits a army hospital
12:01 PM
Germany ensures Swiss Leopard 2 tanks would not go to Ukraine
Germany wouldn’t ship Leopard 2 tanks onwards to Ukraine if Switzerland agreed to ship them as requested by Berlin, a German defence ministry spokesperson stated on Friday.
“There are current and assessed contractual rules,” the spokesperson stated when requested at a daily information convention how Berlin might assure this.
Germany needs Switzerland to promote a few of the tanks again to arms maker Rheinmetall, which might enable the corporate to backfill gaps within the armaments of European Union and Nato members.
11:39 AM
Blinken and Lavrov trade diplomatic swipes day after assembly
Sergei Lavrov, the Russian overseas minister, accused the USA of hypocrisy after Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, stated Russia can’t be allowed to wage struggle in Ukraine with impunity, throughout a safety discussion board they attended in New Delhi on Friday.
The highest diplomats from Moscow and Washington had each attended the Group of 20 overseas ministers gathering within the Indian capital earlier this week, and met in individual for the primary time since Russian forces invaded Ukraine a yr in the past.
“If we enable with impunity Russia to do what it is doing in Ukraine, then that’s a message to would-be aggressors in every single place that they are able to get away with it too,” Mr Blinken instructed the Raisina Dialogue strategic affairs discussion board.
Talking on the identical strategic affairs discussion board after Mr Blinken, Mr Lavrov stated it was “double requirements” to query Russia’s motion in Ukraine when the USA cited a “risk to its nationwide curiosity” to justify army intervention in numerous components of the world, together with the struggle in Iraq, air strikes on Libya, and the bombing of Yugoslavia in the course of the Kosovo battle in 1999.
Mr Lavrov additionally stated the query of when Russia will negotiate an finish to the struggle ought to be put to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Everyone is asking when Russia goes to barter…the West is repeatedly saying that it isn’t time to barter but as a result of Ukraine should win within the battlefield earlier than any negotiations,” he stated.
11:35 AM
Pictured: A mom watches and cries over the portrait of her 38-year-old son killed on the Bakhmut frontline
11:20 AM
Commander of Ukrainian drone unit ordered to withdraw from Bakhmut
The commander of a Ukrainian drone unit lively in Bakhmut, Robert Brovdi who goes by the identify “Madyar”, stated in a video posted on social media that his unit had been ordered by the army to withdraw instantly from town.
He stated he had been combating there for 110 days, and gave no motive for the order to go away.
10:46 AM
Remark: Vladimir Putin retains making the identical primary errors
It was Karl Marx who stated that historical past repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.
The daddy of communism was proper for as soon as, and by no means has his saying been extra acceptable than now, as Vladimir Putin’s botched invasion of Ukraine continues into its second yr.
There’s been a lot fanfare in current weeks about Putin launching a serious new offensive to fully debilitate Ukraine.
Learn the total piece from Hamish De Bretton-Gordon here
10:30 AM
Kremlin warns in opposition to extra Western arms for Ukraine forward of Biden and Scholz assembly
The Kremlin on Friday warned Western nations in opposition to offering extra arms to Ukraine as key Kyiv backers President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been set to fulfill in Washington.
“(Arms deliveries) place a major burden on the economies of those nations and negatively have an effect on the well-being of residents of those nations, together with Germany,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed reporters. “It’s apparent that this can lengthen the battle and have unhappy penalties for the Ukrainian individuals,” he added.
10:10 AM
Pictured: A self-propelled artillery automobile fires on the frontline, Donetsk area
09:53 AM
Belarus jails Nobel winner Bialiatski for 10 years
Belarus on Friday handed a 10-year jail time period to veteran activist Ales Bialiatski, a Nobel Prize winner and founding father of the ex-Soviet authoritarian nation’s most outstanding rights group.
Bialiatski was within the dock with two allies after they had been jailed within the aftermath of historic demonstrations in opposition to the disputed 2020 re-election of Belarus’s strongman President Alexander Lukashenko.
They had been accused of smuggling money into Belarus to allegedly fund opposition actions, in accordance with rights group Viasna, which means Spring in Belarusian, which Bialiatski based in 1996.
Viasna stated he had been handed a 10-year sentence, whereas co-defendants Valentin Stefanovich was given 9 years in jail and Vladimir Labkovich was jailed for seven.
09:24 AM
How Ukraine used mines to idiot Russia right into a humiliating defeat
“Greetings from the frontline,” says the Russian tanker hiding in a shell crater on the method to Vuhledar. “It’s a f***fest.”
With mud splattered throughout his face, and a wounded colleague mendacity subsequent to him within the crater, the soldier is filming a selfie video to point out individuals again dwelling “first-hand proof of what’s taking place right here”.
His grim evaluation of the state of affairs seems to be correct.
09:18 AM
Ukraine ‘repels 85 assaults in Bakhmut’
Ukrainian forces repelled greater than 85 assaults within the 5 principal sectors of the Bakhmut entrance line, the Normal Employees of the Ukraine Army stated on Friday.
“Preventing is happening in Bakhmut around the clock…The state of affairs is important,” Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander within the Nationwide Guard of Ukraine, instructed Ukrainian NV Radio.
Moscow regards Bakhmut as key to gaining management of the Donbas industrial area, and the city has turn into one of many bloodiest battles of the struggle.
In a separate report on YouTube on Thursday night time, Oleh Zhdanov, the Ukrainian army analyst, stated that Ukrainian forces had repelled as many as 170 assaults up to now 24 hours on the 5 principal sectors of the entrance line.
08:54 AM
Pictured: Members of Ukraine’s tenth Mountain Brigade put together to fireplace 122mm artillery shells at Russian troops
08:37 AM
Russia should be punished for Ukraine struggle, says Blinken
Russia can’t be allowed to wage struggle with impunity, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Friday after assembly his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia in New Delhi.
The so-called Quad group, in an announcement issued after the assembly, additionally stated that the use, or risk of use, of nuclear weapons in Ukraine was “inadmissible”.
Late final month, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended a landmark nuclear arms management treaty and threatened to renew nuclear exams.
“If we enable with impunity Russia to do what it is doing in Ukraine, then that’s a message to would-be aggressors in every single place that they are able to get away with it too,” Blinken instructed a discussion board in India which was additionally attended by the Quad ministers.
08:16 AM
Russian mercenary chief says Ukraine’s Bakhmut is virtually surrounded
Yevgeny Prigozhin, founding father of Russia’s Wagner mercenary pressure, stated in a video printed on Friday that the Ukrainian metropolis of Bakhmut was “virtually surrounded” by Russian forces and that Kyiv’s forces had entry to just one highway out.
Prigozhin within the video referred to as on Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy to withdraw his forces from town which Wagner has been making an attempt to seize for months
08:04 AM
EU’s Borrell sees ‘small enchancment’ in US speaking with Russia
Josep Borrell, the EU overseas coverage chief, stated Friday he noticed a “small enchancment” in diplomacy with Moscow after a Group of 20 assembly that noticed uncommon US-Russia talks.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, met briefly Thursday with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian overseas minister, on the assembly in New Delhi, with the highest US diplomat urgent Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Borrell famous that Mr Lavrov remained within the room when Western nations criticised Russia, not like on the final G20 overseas ministers’ assembly in Bali final yr, when he stormed out.
“At the least this time he stayed and he listened. It is a small enchancment nevertheless it’s vital,” Borrell stated on the Raisina Dialogue, a discussion board in New Delhi.
“I feel it is higher than nothing,” he stated.
07:56 AM
Newest MoD replace
07:45 AM
Pictured: Search and rescue groups work at a constructing hit by Russian missile in Zaporizhzhia
07:44 AM
Germany asks Switzerland to promote it Leopard II tanks
Germany has requested Switzerland to promote it a few of its mothballed Leopard II tanks, Swiss newspaper Blick reported on Friday, a deal that might enable Berlin to extend its army help to Ukraine.
Germany needs Switzerland to promote a few of the tanks again to producer Rheinmetall, the paper stated, which might enable the corporate to backfill gaps within the armaments of European Union and Nato members.
Germany, Poland, Portugal, Finland and Sweden are amongst nations sending Leopard tanks to assist Ukraine defend itself in opposition to Russian attack, creating gaps in their very own arsenals.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Economics Minister Robert Habeck knowledgeable Swiss Defence Minister Viola Amherd concerning the challenge in a letter dated Feb. 23, the paper stated.
07:43 AM
Individuals arrested for allegedly sending aviation know-how to Russia
Two Individuals had been arrested in Kansas Metropolis on Thursday for an alleged scheme to ship aviation-related know-how to Russia in violation of US. export controls.
Cyril Buyanovsky, 59, and Douglas Robertson, 55, are accused of conspiring to bypass U.S. export legal guidelines by promoting avionics to clients world wide that function Russian-built plane, in accordance with an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Courtroom in Kansas.
The pair repaired and shipped know-how from their agency, KanRus Buying and selling Firm, submitting false export data, corresponding to a fraudulent bill that confirmed Germany as the top vacation spot for repaired gear bearing a sticker for Russia’s Federal Safety Providers (FSB).
On Feb 28, 2022, after US authorities detained a cargo of avionics, the US Commerce Division instructed the lads they wanted a license to export the gear, the Justice Division stated in an announcement. In Might, June and July, they illegally shipped the electronics via Armenia and Cyprus.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy, exporting managed items and not using a license, falsifying and failing to file export data, and smuggling items opposite to US regulation. If convicted, they resist 20 years in jail for every rely of smuggling.
Buyonovsky and Robinson couldn’t instantly be reached for remark, Reuters reported.
07:41 AM
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